VIDEO: Muck-up day aftermath

Year 12 students across the state have officially graduated and waved goodbye to high school, but as most know, not all goodbyes are easy.

That’s because many students are leaving their mark on their school in the form of permanent damage, rather than the more favourable form of academic success.

After last week’s incident involving a year 7 student breaking his leg, courtesy of an overexcited year 12 graduate, questions have been raised over whether or not muck-up days should be allowed, with a number of schools already banning the day.

Most schools handed out a strict warning to graduating students, threatening bans from their own formal and graduation ceremonies and even threatening to make students sit their HSC exams elsewhere.

Sharon Ellery, a staff member at Emmaus Catholic College, Kemps Creek, has worked at the same school for 16 years and seen a number of year groups graduate. However, one thing has always stayed the same: no muck-up day.

“I feel that it’s a positive thing that we’ve never had ‘muck-up’ as it takes the focus away from the end of school and the ceremony, and instead puts the focus on the popular and more boisterous students and the sometimes harmful or hurtful acts that can occur,” she told The Newsroom.

From glad-wrapping the principal’s car to flooding the toilets, we asked Sydneysiders how they felt about a total ban on muck-up days, and the results were unanimous. – Presented by Lisa Solinareos, video produced by Bakri Mahmoud.